00:00Developing one of the world's largest lithium deposits and entering the market as a major
00:19long-term supplier of high-quality lithium carbonate is the driving force behind Western
00:25lithium USA corporation the extraction of lithium from Western lithium's
00:34hectarite deposit in Nevada consists of the following major steps size reduction
00:40and granulation calcination water leaching evaporation and crystallization and
00:47lithium recovery the lithium ore from the mine is fed directly to
00:55the processing plant or alternatively to a pad that can store 30 days of production
01:01the ore is crushed and milled to approximately 150 microns
01:25and hydrate and dolomite reagents required in the next step of the process are
01:37separately milled to the same size they are then mixed with the ore in a specialty
01:46granulator to form granules the granules are dried with hot gases on their way to
01:58the calciner at around 1,000 degrees centigrade lithium sodium and potassium
02:07the alkaline metals in the ore are converted to water-soluble sulfates the resulting
02:14calcine is then air-cooled in a fluidized bed cooler preheated air from the cooler is added to
02:22the calciner while the calciner off gas is used to produce steam for the downstream evaporation and
02:29drying units lithium potassium and sodium are dissolved along with trace amounts of magnesium and calcium
02:39other impurities remain insoluble the leach solution is cycled to maximize lithium concentration studies
02:51indicate recovery rates of 90 percent for lithium and 80 percent for potassium in the evaporation and
03:00crystallization phase clarified leach solution is mixed with recycled solutions and fed to the evaporators where
03:08lithium sulfate is further concentrated and glassorite is crystallized by cooling after solids and
03:17liquids are separated the liquids are pumped to the lithium recovery circuit while glassorite is further
03:23decomposed with water resulting in crystallized potassium sulfate the potassium sulfate is then
03:31separated dried and packaged as a marketable product
03:52the liquid solution from the decomposition circuit is recycled back to the evaporators
04:01in the lithium recovery circuit trace calcium and magnesium are removed from the concentrate using precipitation and resin technologies
04:17lithium carbonate is precipitated by adding sodium carbonate
04:21lithium carbonate once filtered a lithium baron solution crystallizes glover salt which can be converted and sold as an anhydrous sodium sulfate byproduct
04:51lithium carbonate the lithium carbonate is then washed thoroughly with hot water and dried
05:01western lithium's high quality lithium carbonate is now ready to be packaged in 25 kilogram bags
05:08and stored on pallets in preparation for international shipment for use in the rapidly expanding battery market
Be the first to comment